Don't Let Draw Close Times Rob You Of Riches!

Woman Gets Winning Numbers But Is Too Late To Win

I want you to imagine the following scenario as you read it and think carefully about how you would feel if this happened to you.

You do a double take as you realise you've got all the winning numbers and have hit the lottery jackpot. Except this isn't any lottery, this is the American giant PowerBall lottery where the jackpot is worth $360 million or approx. £231.5 million.

The news announces there was no winner.

But you've got all the numbers right, so maybe they haven't got the most up to date information.

You contact the petrol station where you bought the ticket and they give you a flat out no. When you insist they explain they eventually relent and inform you that you had bought the ticket too late. So although you had the right numbers, you'd actually them for the following week's draw.

This is precisely what happened to Margit Arrobio from Pasedena, California. when she went to buy her tickets. Despite the big jackpot the clerk never informed her that she was too late to participate.

Truth is the clerk didn't necessarily have to tell her, and I guess if the store was busy he/she was just in a rush to serve the next customers.

Still, it's an avoidable situation. Had Margit been able to play online with Lottoland she'd be a multi millionaire now.

Last Minute

Of course regular readers will know that Margit's story is far from unique. Spare a thought for poor Joel Ifergan the Canadian man we interviewed back in February this year after he lost out on a $13.5 million CAD fortune by just seven seconds. Sure Joel was running late, but he was still well within his time limit.

Technically speaking – and we are speaking technically – the fault wasn’t with Joel. It was a technical fault with the lottery terminal at the store where he bought the ticket. The ticket took too long to process and, although the actual transaction – the electronic handshake if you will – was well within the time period the ticket itself took too long to print out, and therefore the time-stamp value was over the cut-off period. Joel subsequently tried to argue his case against the Quebec lottery operator but lost, incurring huge legal fees.

Running Late

I think we're all in agreement that there simply aren't enough hours in the day. And if you do find someone who disagrees with that statement then watch out – that person's clearly a liar!

Seriously, life is hectic; full of unforeseen situations and delays, day after day, week after week. We've all been there, got our work tasks well in hand, we're on top of the housework, everything's tipping along nicely, just as it should be, and then BANG! We're blindsided by some mammoth task just before the end of work or somebody shows up out of the blue just we're about to leave the house and, for one reason or another, we've got no choice but to accommodate the situation.

Next thing we know we're rushing hither and tither – ok so now I need to do this and I can't forget to do that and, oh yeah, the big jackpot's tonight!

But don’t' worry – Lottoland's here to help.

We've got several great ways you can guarantee that what happened to Margit, Joel and countless other unfortunate souls won't happen to you. Here's our best three:

#1 – Advance Play: Not to do a Ronseal Varnish on it – but yes, this feature allows you to play upcoming draws up to ten weeks in advance (perfect for things such as the upcoming EuroMillions Superdraw on June 5th!) Simply select the draw date from the drop down menu on the bottom right of the main ticket area.

#2 – Duration Options: There are lots of nifty features in our Duration section. For example you can play multiple successive draws by selecting the period in the Duration dropdown menu. You can play up to a whole year's worth of draws if you want! Selecting the Hunt option will allow you to chase down a given jackpot until it's won (perfect for large rolling jackpots) and finally we have the Subscription options which allows you to play on a subscription basis whereby you can choose your billing period – anything from weekly to annually.

#3 – Last Minute Tickets: Let's face it, some of us aren't the most punctual people in the world. Hey, there's no shame in admitting it! I know nothing short of Def Con 4 will stop me hitting the Snooze button until the very last possible second – "oh it's the four minute warning, great that gives me another three minutes to lie in."

Even the most punctual people in the world get caught out sometimes, however, which is why we created the Last Minute Ticket system. While it's all done electronically behind the scenes electronically the easiest way to explain how it works is as follows: I go and buy a bunch of lottery tickets. These are quick pick tickets which I then hang onto until the last moment. You then come up to me just before the draw and ask if I have any tickets left. If I do I sell them to you. In essence it's the same basic concept.

In other words you can still play the lottery pretty much right up until the last minute, but you can't pick your numbers. And of course this is all done digitally.

Generally speaking you can play before the official draw – usually about ten minutes or so – though these last minute tickets are limited in number so there's still a chance they could sell out well before that so you need to be quick!

Don't Miss Out

Yeah I know, the Superdraw might be more than three weeks away but still, remember the old story about the Ant and the Grasshopper. While the Ant was readying for the winter the Grasshopper idled and let time slip by. Before the Grasshopper knew it winter was upon him and he was woefully unprepared. It was the Ant's time to laugh and gloat.

Don't be the Grasshopper, be the clever Ant. On the bottom right corner of the ticket under Participation you can select the June 5th Superdraw so you don't miss the opportunity to miss out on that huge €100 million EuroMillions jackpot.

This website is operated by Lottoland. Lottoland passes on Player’s Bets to EU Lotto, which is acting as a bookmaker. When placing Bets, Lottoland acts in the name and on behalf of the Player.EU Lotto Ltd. is licensed by the Irish National Excise Licence Office (Reference number 1011284). It is also licensed by the Gambling Commission for customers in Great Britain (licence: 000-038991-R-319408-005) and by the Government of Gibraltar and regulated by the Gibraltar Gambling Commissioner (RGL 085 & 066).

This is a real money gambling app/site. Please gamble responsibly and only bet what you can afford. For gambling addiction help and support, please contact Gamble Aware at 1800 753 753 or visit http://www.gambleaware.ie/.Woman Gets Winning Numbers But Is Too Late To Win - Lottoland.ie

I confirm I am 18+ and have read and accept the T&C and privacy policy. I understand that I will receive marketing messages and can update my contact preferences at any time in the “My Account” section of the website.